It Came to me in a Dream
by PostSecret
Summary: Dreams are a powerful thing. They can build a person up, but they can also tear them down. Hermione Granger's dreams happen to do both.


A/N: Not my first story, but the first one I'm happy with right now.

Disclaimer: I own iTunes, I live in a shoe, Draco Malfoy is my second cousin, my phone once belonged to aliens, and I own Harry Potter. Get what I'm saying?

A Little Book Called _Hamlet_

It was mid-October and twenty-three year-old Hermione Granger was walking aimlessly around Hogsmead. She should have been at work, but she was having problems getting her thoughts organized enough to work; the night before she had had the most peculiar dream that she couldn't get over.

**Hermione's Dream/Flashback**

_ Hermione was parked outside of her favorite muggle coffee shop, Penny's Cup. Her 3-week-old son, Evan, was in the backseat of the car fast asleep, something he doesn't do very often. She was waiting for Ginny so they could have a cup of coffee and catch-up. As soon as she saw Ginny get out of her car she opened the car door and went to hug her on coming friend. _

_"Ginny it's so good to see you!" she exclaimed. Ginny smiled at her in response. "Let me get Evan. It's a shame to wake him though; he hasn't gotten proper sleep since we brought him home from the hospital." Hermione informed her friend. _

_"Mione just leave him he'll be fine we'll be back in 2 minutes, I promise." Ginny told her friend. Hermione hesitated for a moment then nodded her head a proceeded to walk into the coffee shop. She stood there for a second then looked out of the window next to the door. Her car was slowly rolling down the hill she had parked on. She ran out of the shop and toward her runaway car. She finally reached the car and unlocked it while still running. She opened the door where Evan was, unbuckled him, and pulled him out of the car. She held him close as she watched her still rolling car run into a nearby tree._

**End Dream/Flashback**

When she woke up the next morning she felt like she was still in the dream, and started to look around the house for Evan, when she realized it was all a dream she felt like a part of her was missing. She walked around her kitchen on autopilot for the next 15 minutes, making her morning cup of coffee and toast.

After what seemed like hours she realized that she was being silly and went to get ready for work. What should she be sad about? It was just a dream, a dream that seemed so real to her. She was only 23, but she was the only one of her magical friends who wasn't married or seeing someone.

Harry and Ginny got married a year after the war, after everything had settled. Ron was happily dating some girl who worked with him in the ministry, they seemed genuinely in love and Hermione couldn't be happier for them. Neville had even found someone, a new teacher at Hogwarts, he taught Herbology and she was the charms professor.

All Hermione had was her book store. She opened it a year ago and it had been pretty successful from the start. Ginny worked in the shop with her, thinking that being a housewife was boring. She would run the store when Hermione was having an off-day, like today.

Walking around the town didn't seem to do much for her, but at least she wasn't being bothered. She walked down to the park and sat on one of the swings. The normally buzzing streets were empty except for a few people walking around the shops. She watched the leaves swirl in the wind. The fall air was cool against her face as she swung back and forth. This was the place she always escaped to when she felt down or when she wanted to forget what happened all of those years ago.

She didn't know why, but when she was swinging, she always felt like nothing in the world could hurt her. The slight squeaking of the chains was a childhood comfort that she longed for when the clouds turned grey. She closed her eyes and imagined that she was soaring though the air toward a place where she could forget the lonely feeling she felt since this morning. She kicked her legs out and pulled them back, pushing herself through the air faster.

She didn't want to go back to work; she wanted to stay in this park forever, not wanting to forget this feeling. Her friends thought she was crazy for always running off to the park, they didn't understand her passion for being outside, with a good book; not one about history or school, just a normal everyday book. She opened her eyes and started to slow herself down.

She looked around and saw a young woman with a small child and her heart broke. Maybe coming to the park was a bad idea. She got off the swings and started to walk to the book shop. She looked at the small shops as she walked by and couldn't believe that one of them was hers. She smiled as she opened the red door to _Escape_, her humble store. One the wall to her left was her favorite quote, "A room without books, is like a person without a soul." It seemed fitting in this place. As she walked in Ginny called out to her.

"Granger! I need some help back here. These books are going to fall on me," she yelled a little too loudly.

"Gin, I'm right here, no need to scream. Hand me some books and try not to fall," she looked up at her friend as she handed her some books from the top shelf.

It was days like this, the ones where everything was normal and some what boring that Hermione had time to reflect on her life. It was days like these that she hated. She took the books and sorted them according to the genre and author on the front desk.

"So, why are you late today, Missy?" Ginny joked with her. She smiled and placed her hands on the desk.

"I had the weirdest dream last night, Gin. You and I were going to get coffee in London and I had a kid, a little boy named Evan. He was sleeping in the back of my car, so peacefully and I didn't want to wake him so you told me to leave him, we'd be gone for a second. I agreed, but when I looked back my car was rolling down the hill. I freaked out and ran to the car, unlocked the door, wrenched it open, and pulled him out, just in time to see my car crash into a tree," she finished her story and looked up at her friend. She had an amused look in her eyes and a smile on her lips.

"Hermione, it was just a dream, no need to worry about it. Everything is normal, it's ok."

"But it felt so_real._ I woke up this morning expecting to have Evan in the next room, to have his father next to me. I wanted it to be real. I didn't know what to do with myself when I realized it was just a dream. I felt empty inside, it was so weird. I never dream like this, never. I went to the park and saw a woman with her baby and I almost lost it, what's wrong with me?" She implored earnestly.

Ginny looked sadly at her friend. She knew it was hard for her to be stuck without someone not that being single was a bad thing; Hermione just wasn't the kind of person who was happy only caring for herself. She often treated Ginny as her little sister, making sure she ate a proper lunch when she was at the shop and always making sure they had a hot meal whenever she felt that Ginny was too tired or sick, or ADD, to cook for them.

"Hermione, honey, it will be ok. You'll find someone; you'll have your happy ending. I promise you. Everything will turn out alright. If you ever need to talk about all of this, you know I'm here, always," Ginny finished her speech and smiled, only to find Hermione looking frustrated.

"That's not it, Gin. I know it will all come together in the end, but this isn't about that. This dream, it was so real, like it's what's supposed to happen to me. It felt right to have that little boy in the back seat of my car. My heart broke when I thought that he was going to roll down that hill. All that was on my mind was getting to him and saving him. I know I'm being silly, don't get me wrong, but still, it was so _real,_" she felt the tears prick the corners of her eyes.

Hermione felt herself being pulled into big hug. The tears poured down her face. The insane thoughts she was having were pushing her to the edge. She didn't know what to do, it one dream was making her feel like this, then what would happen the next time it happened? What would she do if it never happened again? Would she be able to handle not having the dream again? She felt empty without the feeling she felt in the dream; the feeling that she was needed. She longed to feel that again.

She let go of Ginny and dried her eyes when she heard someone walk into the shop. Hermione saw a blond head walking up one of the many rows of books.

"Can I help you, sir?" She called down to him. She heard his foot step grow closer as he walked toward her desk.

"Yeah, I'm looking for a book on…_Granger?_" The man looked at her as if she were Fluffy. Hermione looked confused for a moment and laughed.

"Actually there's one to your left," her joke obviously failed and he only looked more shocked and confused. She looked at Ginny to see if she recognized the man standing before them and she looked just as puzzled. "Ok, yes, I'm Hermione Granger. I own this place, what can I help you with?"

"You don't recognize me do you? Wow, that's rich, the smarted girl in school can't remember the one person that make her life hell, sorry about that by the way. Anyway I'm…" He was cut off by Ginny's gasp.

"Hermione, it's Malfoy! What are you doing here in Mione's shop?" She demanded.

"I'm doing what everyone does in this store. I'm looking for a book; do you think I can find one here? I am in the right place right? _Escape Books_ is a book store right?" His voice was dripping in sarcasm, though not in the hash tone he used just mere years ago.

"Yes, Malfoy, you're in the right place. What do you need to find? We've got everything here, wizarding books and more," Hermione smiled a fake, but polite smile.

"Actually I was looking for a Muggle book. Perhaps you've heard of it, William Shakespeare's _Hamlet_. I don't know if you know what it is, I've only just learned of it as of late, my mother insisted that I read it, crazy woman," he finished.

"I think I can manage to find that for you, though I may just have to look extra hard," she giggled. Draco looked at her as though she were crazy. He obviously was oblivious to the fact that he was one of Hermione's favorite authors, and of course that Shakespeare is a household name in almost all Muggle families.

She walked to the front of the store to a little corner, looked for a moment and spotted the book of choice.

"Here you go, Malfoy. _Hamlet_ is one of my favorites; you must tell me what you think of it when you are finished," she handed him the book as they proceeded to the back of the store again for him to check out.

"Will do, Granger, have a nice day, Ginny," he walked down the store and out the door, waving goodbye as he did so.

Hermione sat and put her face in her hands. Life would never cease to amaze her, and she didn't know if that was good or bad.Ginny laughed and started to sort books again. Today was definitely a weird day, even after all of the things they had been through in their lives. It was almost 5 o'clock when either of them spoke to each other again; they had been enjoying the comfortable silence between them.

"Hey, Mione, why don't you go and get some sleep, I hate to say it, but you look like hell." It was true, her hair was a mess, her eyes were puffy and she just down right felt like crap. "I'm ok covering, it's a slow day. Go get some rest, we close in an hour anyway. I'll make you some soup tonight and have Harry bring it over. We owe you one after everything you've done for us over the years."

Hermione smiled and gave her best friend a hug before grabbing her purse and apparating home. She looked around her small flat and smiled. The walls were a grape leaf green and everything had gold accents. She had different quotes on her walls that she painted on herself. The kitchen always smelled of fresh brewed coffee, and her room smelled of lime and vanilla. This is the place she called home, the place where she found rest.

She crawled under her down comforter and snuggled into the blankets. She didn't even bother to change into her pajamas. She just wanted the rest she needed. As she drifted off to sleep, she hoped that she would soon hold Evan in her arms again.

A/N: I normally don't beg for reviews, but hey it couldn't hurt. So please, review. I want to know what I'm doing wrong and what I'm doing right. Thank you.


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